Yes sent over a smiling face.

"You’re doing so well now, of course they’re happy. Most people in our neighborhood are doctors, and the clinical medicine program at the University of Washington is ranked number one in the world. I think the professor who just won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was from the University of Washington. The letter of intent says you can choose any major—are you going to pick clinical medicine?"

"I'm an athlete, so in principle I can't choose a major that's too specialized. I'm planning to pick education."

"Education, huh? That works too, it's ranked seventh in the world."

"You even know that?"

"Of course I do, I asked about all the majors. Also, you got accepted to the University of Washington—such a big deal—and you didn't even tell me. Yes, tell me, do you have someone you like in America?!"

Looking at the rows of red, bloody knives in the chat window, Yes pictured Olivia Bennett holding a kitchen knife with a blank stare, and quickly replied: "Little Olivia, don’t say that, I don’t have anyone I like in America."

"Hmph, at least you have a conscience. Take care of yourself over there, don’t worry about things at home. Now that your parents have me as their daughter, they won’t miss you, their son. And you’re not allowed to miss them too much either!"

"Mm."

"Also, I know you don’t dare tell your parents you’re not coming home for New Year’s this year, so I’ll help you tell them later. This year, our two families will celebrate together—it’ll definitely be lively."

"Mm."

"And finally, don’t push yourself too hard. If you’re sad, we’ll be sad too."

"Don’t worry, I’m fine, not sad at all."

"Good, that puts my mind at ease. Watch the game and go to bed early."

"Mm."

Putting down his phone and looking at Shaquille O’Neal and Yao Ming on TV, Yes felt inexplicably irritable.

The game he’d been looking forward to for so long was actually making him feel restless.

Was his OCD acting up again?

Staring at the TV just a few steps away, the NBA stage felt so close, yet so far.

"No, I can’t calm down unless I go for a two-hour run."

Before the game was even over, Yes changed clothes and ran out into the cold wind of Seattle.

Chapter 0007: Seattle Glory

On January 31, 2005, early Monday morning in the U.S., Yes got up early for a long run, just like always.

For Yes, long-distance running had always been his favorite way to train.

It didn’t require any cost, nor did he have to worry about time, weather, indoors, outdoors, or any other factors.

As long as he felt like running, he could start at any time.

Long-distance running was also the best way to maintain his physical condition.

On the panel of his superstar development system, there was a section for physical condition.

Right now, Yes’s physical condition was "weightless."

Physical condition wasn’t just about body weight; it also included things like physical activity level.

For example, yesterday he had "exhausted."

"Exhausted" meant his body was overworked.

Besides "exhausted," there were two other corresponding states for physical activity: "rusty" and "heavily rusted."

A "rusty" physical state is a debuff, temporarily reducing all attributes by 20%.

Generally, if you go a week without enough systematic on-ball and off-ball training, you’ll get the "rusty" effect.

As for "heavily rusted," that’s what happens after about a month without systematic on-ball and off-ball training, and it temporarily reduces all attributes by 30%.

Systematic on-ball and off-ball training requires resources.

A lot of time and money.

For Yes, that wasn’t realistic. After all, even now, he wasn’t a fully professional or systematic basketball player.

His training methods were different from everyone else’s.

The way others improved their attributes was definitely not the same as his.

If he used other people’s systematic methods, his attributes might not improve at all.

He needed enough time to find his own training methods.

Most of these methods weren’t scientific.

And if they weren’t scientific, how could they be systematic?

So, with limited time, he could only choose between improving his attributes and maintaining systematic training.

The answer was obvious.

Of course, he chose to improve his attributes.

That’s why, at first, his physical condition often showed "rusty" and "heavily rusted."

After a long period of trial and error, he discovered that long-distance running and shooting could substitute for systematic off-ball and on-ball training.

This kept his physical condition from being stuck in a long-term slump due to "rusty" or "heavily rusted."

From then on, whether or not he needed to improve his attributes, Yes made sure to run every day, and he even hung a simple hoop in his dorm for shooting practice.

If long-distance running could also be linked to attribute improvement, it would make him even happier.

He was talking about the speed attribute.

Speed was his favorite attribute, bar none.

Improving other attributes always forced him to look for all sorts of strange methods, but speed was the one attribute he never had to worry about.